Overground & Underground
As a curator and resident of Ottawa for the past eight years, I have seen how this transient city has transformed both me and my career. I asked myself: Have we ever defined this city outside of being a space that feels so stagnant, calm, and even boring to some?
I see movements happening underground and under the surface, often driven by the most marginalized—though seldom acknowledged and almost always in precarious positions. I recognize the unique blend of experiences that this city offers. I have witnessed and participated in social, cultural, and arts movements here that have facilitated community building and enriched my lifestyle.
As a child of the African diaspora, I want to highlight the symbolism of movement and the reality of migration. Despite its transience, Ottawa boasts a budding creative scene. I wanted to honour the place I've called home while also acknowledging many have been displaced from their homes across this space and state.
These images reflect my various perspectives over the years as an art patron, student activist, event attendee, and community lover. I hope this exhibit encourages others to look beyond the surface and see Ottawa through the experiences of the global majority.
The public art exhibition, taking up space downtown Ottawa, showcases five photo-based artists: Jordy Alpha, David D. Pistol, Serena Yang, Dion Prints, and Adrienne Row-Smith. Their work highlights Afro-diasporan culture and solidarity in the National Capital Region. Initially overlooked, these hidden figures reveal their significant impact upon closer inspection. Their art fosters creative collaboration, cultural thought, and community mobilization. The images depict Black-led collectives creating avant-garde art and advocating for underrepresented artists, while also addressing cultural migration, displacement, and calls for safety and landback. This collection immerses viewers in the rich connections and narratives strengthening the city's social fabric. This leaves you wondering, as the title of the exhibition goes:
“How do you move?”
"Let Freedom Ring" (Jimmy Baptiste, Kal, Nambi, Allen) 2020. David D. Pistol These folks are the artists that paint the inside and outside of the Ottawa-Gatineau institutions while sustaining their own. As individuals and through the Ottawa Black Art Kollective, they’ve captured present and historical realities of Black existence, notably the social movements (in this image) involving George Floyd and Frederick Douglass.
"Kelvin Stidwell's designs modeled by Jude Ejike and Jessi Gar, at The Moving Art Gallery," 2023. Serena Yang This is what happens when Black, queer, and Ottawa-based artists and collectives come together to create and show fine art through the textile medium. This is a space created for and by underrepresented artists who demonstrate art in motion.
"Tems," 2023. Dion Prints This image pays homage to Dion’s heritage and the emergence of the Afrobeat genre originated in Nigeria. This genre, like water, has flowed into the mainstream and become commonplace for diasporic collaborations with understandings of Indigenous roots.
"Nicholas x Laurier Square (Protesting Landback & Police Brutality)" 2020. Adrienne Row-Smith This image captures the folks on the frontline of social movements, who fight against the violence and intergenerational theft (of power, land, safety and more) experienced by Black and Indigenous folks through colonial means and methods. Though we’ve seen a recent increase in social awareness, the fight for liberation for all marginalized folks has been and is ongoing and in solidarity. “Nobody’s free until everybody’s free” - Fannie Lou Hamer